We feel ‘Charity’ is NOT the solution to Africa’s problems, instead we support a socio-economic re-balancing, helping people free themselves from the oppressive economic state they are in. Our Volunteer opportunities aim at working, on a Grass Roots level with the individuals in our Community, helping alleviate their Struggle for Health Care, Education & a Reasonable Standard of Living.

We aim to Strengthen our Community from within, through a combination of Financial Support, Voluntary Work & other Resources.

Fulfilling Volunteer projects for individuals who like an adventure and are keen to work closely with the local community.

Program 1: Teaching Assistant - We are working with a Local Primary & JSS School with Nursery/Kindergarten Classes attached. The Volunteers in this program will be working alongside the Ghanaian Teachers, helping to support & encourage a more Child-centred, Creative Educational approach to Lesson Structure.

Program 2: School Building Project - We are helping the School build the classroom block for their Nursery/Kindergarten pupils, with the walls up, we are in the process of roofing the building now. However, there is so much more to do; the windows, the floor, plastering the walls, guttering & Rain-harvest tanks, Chalk-Boards, Desks & Chairs etc. With the funds that you bring to the project the volunteers in this program will be working directly with the carpenters, plumbers, masons etc, getting involved with the manual labour & seeing exactly where your Donation money is going.

Program 3: Sports Projects - Depending on your individual skills/interests, you can offer your assistance to any part of the Sports related projects. Football enthusiasts can Help the Youth Football Team, organising Soccer Practice & Fitness Training. We are building a Basketball court and Skateboard/Inline Skates ramp. Those volunteers with knowledge/passion for Basketball can work on building up the Team, those with Skating skills/knowledge will be able to help & encourage the development of this relatively new sport in Ghana. Your Donation money will go towards supplying the Teams with Training Kits & ‘Match strips’, boots, Balls, Skateboards/Skates, pads etc and you will be getting involved in local sports matches.

Program 4:Medical - We can organise placements in the local Clinic/Hospital for any volunteer who are either qualified or student Doctors, Nurses or Midwives. Your Donation money will be going towards supplies for the Clinic or Hospital where you will be working.

Combination Programs: School ends by 3pm and the Sports projects wont start untill 4pm, so it is possible to combine the Teaching & Sports Programs, or even Teach untill 3pm then work on the Building Project / Building project in the morning then do Sports in the afternoon. Your volunteer Program is totally felxible & you can tailor it to suit you personally.

Prices

The Grass Roots Volunteer Project is completely Transparent, the Price we charge is for Dorm Accommodation, which includes Breakfast & Dinner. We quote this price in One Month packages, but can book you in for up to six months. In addition to the food & Accommodation charge, there is a mandatory Donation to the project you are working on. Unlike other volunteer projects, you get to see exactly where your funds are going, you even get to help choose where they are spent and get involved by paying the labourers, buying materials and doing some of the work yourself.

In addition to the above costs, we can also arrange an Airport pickup for you & transport to Roots Yard

Please contact us for further details

The ‘Friends of Peki’ Mural

We have an open-ended Mural on the Wall of one of the School Buildings, all our volunteers get to add their Hand Prints as leaves on various branches of the Tree, there are other branches to be filled with leaves, and space for many more branches to be added, representing our commitment to these projects and our community in the years to come.

Other Projects to get involved in

We try to involve our volunteers in helping the community in any way they can depending on their particular skills. Feel free to suggest new ideas or other ways you think you can have a positive impact. We have a number of projects that need people, knowledge, enthusiasm and funds.

Green Energy Project: Rootsyard has over the last couple of years, been looking into alternative energy. At the moment, we have a solar panel on our roof, charging a re-cycled car battery and a charge controller to regulate how much power goes in the battery. With this, we have lights for the Bar and kitchen, when the mains power is out. We also have a prototype wind turbine under construction, all components for this have been localy sourced and re-cycled.

We are looking for Volunteers with some knowlege and experience of either Solar or Wind Turbines. You would be helping advance these projects, with the future intention of being able to train Local youth in the construction of both technologies to produce kits for sale on the local market at affordable prices. This will enable the people of Peki to generate Clean Affordable Electricity and not rely upon the infrequent and unreliable ECG (Electricity Company of Ghana).

Honey Project : We have been working with a local family supporting their BeeKeeping & Honey production. Sadly, Mr. Dango passed away in 2014, age 74, he is remembered & missed by the whole community. This now leaves his wife even more in need of help from the Project. We have been able to Build a number of New Bee Hives and bought a Bee-Keepers Suit so that the Honey can be harvested Safely. They need more hives, a second suit and advice/expertise on ways of improving their Bee Keeping & Honey production.

Peki Library Fund: We have been able to donate two Boxes of Books to Peki Community Library. The librarians told us they desperately needed Children’s Books, so we are starting to raise funds for this section. We are looking for ‘in-scope’ Ghanaian/African based books. It is no use saying to a child in Peki “A is for Apple” whenApples don’t grow here! As you can see in the picture, all the shelves are sadly very bare. The Library basically needs funds. All volunteers can feel free to bring Books as donations to the Library, in addition to this, anyone with Librarian experience will be able to assit in organisation & running operations.

Re-Forestation & Forest Preservation: We aim at addressing the devastating environmental effect of de-forestation in our community by giving the local chainsaw operators and timber merchants the chance to get involved in the re-planting of hard wood trees, ensuring the continued supply of Timber for future generations as well as improving the Environment for wildlife in the area. We need volunteers with relevant knowledge, who can focus on Education and awareness campaigns, in Schools & in the general community, on the importance of Re-Forestation. These volunteers would also be involved in developing a Tree Nursery, clearing land & planting the Tree Seedlings.